Morning Mass started each weekday off for Pat Havlik when she attended Holy Rosary Catholic School as a little girl.

“We knelt at a communion rail, we didn’t walk up to a priest like you do now,” Havlik said. “We always had to wear a veil on our head. A hat or a veil and if you got to Mass and you forgot your hat or couldn’t find your veil, you wore a Kleenex and bobby pinned a Kleenex on your head.”

Havlik, who lived about seven miles from the school, said she boarded during the week and went home for the weekends.

Attending Stuttgart’s Catholic school was a tradition that began with her own father, Albert Luebker, and continued on through two more generations. The Stuttgart school itself was established in 1899.

Havlik and her daughter, Debra Kizzire, were both on hand Monday to talk to students about their own experiences with attending a Catholic school and to share pictures that included some familiar faces for the present students — their own family and older church members.

In honor of the week, Principal Kathy Lorince said the school’s alumni visited Monday to speak with students about their experience and a talent show was held Tuesday.

Other activities include a breakfast with parents, grandparents and supporters on Wednesday, a school spelling bee on Thursday and a banana split BYOB on Friday.

Students have also collected socks and shoes to deliver to a local nursing home, where they plan to sing to its residents.

For Havlik and Kizzire, Catholic Schools Week has allowed them to compare today’s school with their own experience. Of the four generations to attend Holy Rosary, only Kizzire and her two children have attended class in the school’s present location.

Religious sisters taught them both for the most part, and Havlik said lessons also included a rhythm band where everybody played an instrument.

“Another thing that hasn’t changed that has meant a lot to me was in the hallway you have a statue of the Blessed Mother and that has been here since as long as I can remember,” Kizzire said, adding that they had huge bouquets of flowers surrounding it.

There are plenty of comparisons for Havlik’s family, but she said it’s still an experience worth having. “I love Holy Rosary and it’s one of the best schools you will ever, ever go to,” Kizzire said.